Dog Haus closed again, and is for lease

Dog Haus Biergarten's sign above the front door of the building, seen in 2023 - Optopolis

Dog Haus Biergarten appears to have closed for the foreseeable future--again. The building is now for lease, and Dog Haus lists the location as temporarily closed in spite of "closed for maintenance" signs posted at the entry doors.

Glimpse of the history

Dog Haus Biergarten was one of the first few tenants to open in Pershing Marketplace with the building going up in 2019; back then, it was operated by Goalz LLC who also then-operated Church's Chicken in Cheyenne. Dog Haus became the first place in Pershing Marketplace to close up shop, closing in March 2023.

Dog Haus was able to find new ownership for the Cheyenne Biergarten, and the new franchisee was later revealed to be FAFO Restaurant Group LLC. They held a soft opening primarily for the workers' friends and family on June 25th, then opened to the general public on June 26th.

US Dept. of Labor seeks court order against Cheyenne restaurant

On September 10th, Stew Dyer of Cap City News reported that the US Department of Labor had filed a petition in federal court against FAFO Restaurant Group LLC for failing to comply with a subpoena served earlier this year regarding potential violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Several people have made public posts on the internet alleging that the Cheyenne Dog Haus wasn't paying their employees correctly, including at least one person who posted in Cheyenne Rants, Raves and Community Reviews etc., and at least one person who posted on Reddit, r/Cheyenne.

Dog Haus Cheyenne's Facebook post created in the Cheyenne Community Connections group on Facebook, posted in the afternoon of July 7th, 2024.

Dog Haus Cheyenne posted to Cheyenne Community Connections on July 7th, 2024 "to set the record straight on a few things," seen in the screenshot seen above. One bullet point in their post stated, "All employees are paid when they complete all required paperwork," a line which many comments on their post questioned.

Cheyenne Dog Haus building for lease

On October 9th, 2024, @DogHaus_Cheyenne posted to their Instagram page that the restaurant closed for maintenance starting on October 9th, and "closed for maintenance" signs had been posted on two doors at the restaurant. Dog Haus does occasionally close for maintenance, but this doesn't appear to be the normal maintenance call because the building is now for lease. A new sign can be seen at Dog Haus advertising lease information, and several online marketplaces also list lease information including Century 21 Bell.

"Closed for Maintenance" sign seen on the front door, but the day of closure is partially cut off from view. - Optopolis

Initially after the store "closed for maintenance," the Dog Haus website still showed the location operating normally, but now, the website displays the location as temporarily closed. It appears that the last time Dog Haus Cheyenne posted on their social media was October 10th for Facebook and approximately October 9th on their Instagram Story (as per a screenshot of a section of their story which stated the restaurant was temporarily closed).

Upon visiting the restaurant in late October, a "for lease" sign had already been placed along College Drive directly next to Dog Haus. In the morning of October 24th, an apparent deputy from the Laramie County Sheriff's Office walked up to the building with paperwork in hand for a reason(s) unknown to Optopolis, but the officer left shortly after peering into a window of the darkened and liminal lobby area.

A Selling Homes Network For Lease sign advertises the name of Steve Borin and Mason Dieters; it sits on College Drive directly next to the Dog Haus building (seen at left in the background) - Optopolis

At this time, it isn't absolutely clear to Optopolis if the Dog Haus brand will remain in Cheyenne, possibly under a new franchisee. Assuming Dog Haus doesn't reopen under FAFO Restaurant Group, this may well become the second time Cheyenne's Dog Haus has closed in a slightly more permanent manner.

Update 11-29, location removed from website

Cap City News' Jared Gendron just published an article an hour ago (at time of writing this update) on November 29th, detailing and investigating the payment situation with employees who worked at Cheyenne's Dog Haus; he interviewed several workers who shared problems with even getting paid and a questionable payment process (i.e. through Venmo or Cash App).

In the article, however, Jared mentions that the Cheyenne location has been removed from the Dog Haus locator, and this is true. While the state of Wyoming and city of Cheyenne still have sections on Dog Haus' website, the page for the individual Atkin Street Dog Haus location has been removed.

What are your thoughts on Dog Haus? Did you like their food and would you like it to reopen under a new franchisee? Or, should the property gain an entirely new tenant? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Originally published: 11/04/2024 at 11:20 AM

Updated: 11/29/2024 at 12:15 PM to add new details about the Cheyenne Dog Haus.

Updated: 12/03/2024 at 10:05 PM to remove a restaurant name on this article; currently unable to rediscover source confirming this information. It is unrelated to Dog Haus and Church's Chicken.

Location: Cheyenne, WY, USA

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